By:Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
Demolition began last week on the infamous center island at the intersection of West Victoria and Alpine Boulevard. This island was installed after a dubious traffic study was taken before the redesign of Alpine Boulevard. Four years ago, when officials were questioned regarding this installation, they indicated that the island would better direct traffic for the turn lane onto West Victoria.
By:Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
Demolition began last week on the infamous center island at the intersection of West Victoria and Alpine Boulevard. This island was installed after a dubious traffic study was taken before the redesign of Alpine Boulevard. Four years ago, when officials were questioned regarding this installation, they indicated that the island would better direct traffic for the turn lane onto West Victoria.
Several people brought up the heavy traffic that occurs on the boulevard during certain hours of the day, such as the morning rush hour, and the afternoon rush after school lets out. The County Traffic Department assured everyone that the study allowed them to collect all the information they needed to best handle the traffic that travels the main thoroughfare in Alpine.
When the island was first installed, there were several accidents. It was a common occurrence to hear a sudden squeal of breaks and then a crash. The curbing on the island was immediately damaged, and the County had to repair it on at least two occasions.
When drivers finally grew accustomed to the island, new complaints began to surface regarding the appearance of the island. It was a large area in the center of the town that was not groomed. The dirt that filled the island was a composite of decomposed granite, and not fertile soil. Also, there was no easy way to cultivate growth in this space, as there was no available water to the land. The County’s best wish for this area, and all of the ‘dirt spots’ that were installed along Alpine Boulevard, was that residents and business owners along the Boulevard would cultivate and care for the areas, with their own water supplies, via hoses, or buckets.
This never happened. The only work on the center island that took place was a random cleaning of the weeds that grew.
In speaking to the men who are currently working on the demolition, they confirmed that the island caused more traffic problems that it solved. Instead of funneling the vehicles that are turning, and moving them out of the way of vehicles that were traveling straight, it caused a bottleneck on a lane that was too small to even handle emergencies. The removal of the large island will allow more room on the road for vehicles to maneuver the roadway.
